Fragile
by Riddlemione
Summary: Distance and social class had separated the stag princess and the wolf's bastard, but when a civil war breaks out between their families both will have to choose whether to remain loyal to their houses or their hearts.


Pronouced- On-ah-stah-see-ah. Not like the cartoon or 50SoG. If you google how to pronounce "How to pronounce Anastasia (Greek/Russian)" it will show you how it is pronounced. Young Anastasia is Madeleine McGraw. I chose to go with her because of her blue eyes and dark hair like Robert. There is also a secret message in the story. Write in the review what you think it is! Before you comment the weird flow of the story, it was intended (think of that as a hint)

Young Anastasia-Madeleine McGraw

Anastasia-Blanca Padilla

-RM

Though it had been years since her previous stay at Winterfell, Anastasia could recall the castle from memory. She had spent nearly a year there, protected during the Greyjoy's Rebellion. She was but a child, too young, and taken away from her mother to be fostered in the north surround by the grey walls and cold winds. Not all the memories she held of Winterfell were of gloom and dismay.

He made her stay enjoyable; Jon. Lord Stark's bastard was a raven-haired boy nearly the age of 10 when he and the princess met. Robb showed no interest in entertaining the girl, but Jon would have hung the moon if he asked her to do so.

Even though they were just children, the friendship between the two gave Lady Catelyn an unsettling feeling. The princess's affection toward her husband's bastards dismayed her. Robb was not promised and surely the marriage of the two would be favorable; even if it meant to the offspring of a Lannister.

Poor Jon was often sent aside by Lady Catelyn's orders, but it was the princess who often ordered him right back into court. Although it was Catelyn's home, Anastasia was the princess and the daughter of Robert Baratheon. It did not matter if this was the north and she was indeed foreign. The Seven Kingdoms was her playground and whoever she chose to play with, she would.

Robb was jealous of the relationship between Anastasia and his half-brother. He all, but counted the days until she left the north. His mother's persistence to make friends just made him dislike the girl even more. It was not until one day when the young princess had put Robb in his place. The girl was a gentle as a dove and her voice felt as soothing as silk, which made it more difficult to have harsh feelings afterward.

"I know you don't like me and you don't like me staying here." She said approaching the pouting boy in the Godswood one particularly chilly evening. "I am just some silly girl who has come into your home and you want me gone." Robb explained that it was not her presence that bothered him, but her friendship with Jon, to which the girl laughed. The girl explained how she envied Robb's relationship with Jon. Robb would have Jon to play with forever. Anastasia's fun would end when her father returned to take her back to the capital. Although her words brought him comfort, Robb still did not make the effort to have a better relation to the girl, but Anastasia was not phased.

Ned had sent a raven promising his return home soon much to the children's dismay. It was not too long after that Jon caught ill. Though Anastasia was every mother's dream of how a daughter should be-poise, generous, and lady-like in every sense- she left scratches on her septa when the woman tried to escort her out of Jon's room while he was sick with pox. With the exception of her uncle Renly, Jon was her only friend. That same night, the princess was found sleeping at the Godswood tree, praying to the gods not to take her friend away from her; too afraid to be alone. Surely enough the year had not finished before Ned returned home. When the young kraken entered Winterfell, it was not soon after that the stag princess departed; leaving behind Jon. Once more she was alone with a drunken father and absent mother.

Cersei was always distant to her eldest. Many around the court presumed it was because she was just a cold person. Anastasia needed a wet nurse, her mother producing no milk for the new babe, making it so that the two never bonded at the breast. They would later see Cersei's maternal instincts kick in upon the arrival of her second child, Joffrey. Joffrey was constantly jealous over Anastasia's resemblance to their father. All the Baratheons were of black hair and blue eyes, but Joffrey looked exactly like his mother. The two other children following Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen, did as well. Anastasia always took a backseat to her brother, she suspected it was because she was told she looked so much like Lyanna Stark, her father's first betrothed. Robert had become irrationally drunk one evening when Anastasia was only seven years of age. It was the only time she witnessed the king strike her mother across the cheek. Anastasia could remember the words "dead child" coming from her mother's mouth and her father returning her words with a backhand.

Even though the child could obtain any earthly possession, she would have traded anything to return to Jon. Her parent's constant fighting did not cease when she returned home to King's Landing, nor did her father's habits. Although she was but a child, Anastasia was aware of her father's addiction to alcohol and whores. Her mother once her to consider herself lucky that her father never brought in the trash from the streets and to take a lesson. No doubt her mother had heard about her kinship with the Stark bastard. Between her father and her mother, Anastasia was nearly responsible for raising herself with the exception of her uncles.

Stannis was always distant to everyone, not just the princess, but it was Renly who truly showed her any affection. She considered Renly more of a father than her own, considering she seldom ever saw Robert. Renly served as Master of Laws on her father's small council and as Lord Paramount of the Stormlands and had no wife or children, so whatever spare time he acquired it was spent doting on his pixie-like niece. One thing that Renly indulged himself in was the arts. He was not a graceful painter nor was he graceful on his feet. He did not have the same finances as her father, but could he teach her the same lessons his mother taught him; singing. Their voices could be heard throughout the halls sometimes all the way to the Red Keep. The other members of the small council often joked that little Anastasia had Renly wrapped around her finger. When she was too young to attend to her studies, she would wait outside of the council's chambers until it was dismissed; waiting for her beloved uncle.

She followed Renly around as if she were a pup. Upon returning to King's Landing Renly noted how the little princess no longer followed him around like a moth to a flame. He heard of the infatuation she had for Ned Stark's bastard from his brother, but the king did not take it so seriously.

And in the north, a lonely boy resumed his life of being a bastard boy with a new addition to the Stark household. His father, Lord Eddard had taken in a ward of Pyke, a Greyjoy boy the same age as him and Robb. He took to Robb quickly; everyone did, but once Jon said his last name, Theon treated Jon like any high born would a bastard. The second addition was a little girl, the second daughter to Lord Eddard and Lady Catelyn. Even fresh from her mother's womb, Jon could note how similarly his half-sister resembled their father. It made Catelyn furious at the idea of how her husband's bastard was the one who resembled their father the most.

Nevertheless, life continued on for everyone. In the first few months, ravens were often sent between the two children. Jon would not speak of Lady Catelyn's cruelty, but Anastasia knew it was there. Even more so now that the little princess was not there to hide the little bastard boy away. Lady Catelyn never physically harmed Jon, but words often cut deeper than swords.

Daily Jon would go to see if any letters had come from the south and in the capital Anastasia did the same. The two hid it well from their parents of what they were doing. No one knew of their secret notes traveling across the kingdom. Even if they were to catch the two, it would be difficult to understand. The children, too young to properly spell, often sounded out words. When words became too difficult, they stuck to pictures. Jon often drew a Kraken's head on a boy's body to represent Theon Greyjoy and a wolf's head for Robb.

The letters were rampant until one day, Jon realized that it had been weeks since receiving a letter. Fear instantly gripped his heart. _Does she not want to speak with me anymore? Does she hate bastards now? Did she get caught?_ These sinister thoughts had plagued Jon for months until he realized that if she had gotten caught, his father knew nothing of it. Jon concluded that it was of his status that ended the letters and ultimately the friendship.

However, little did the bastard know, a fever had taken Anastasia. The girl was nearly bed ridden for three months and that was the least of the family's worry. The final weeks almost in a comatose state, somewhere along the way of her illness, Anastasia's hearing at faded. The sound of the waves outside of her window, her father's boisterous laughter, and even her own voice. Anastasia had lost it all.

Everyone had kept Anastasia's condition a secret to most. The Seven Kingdoms had learned of her illness and recovery, but nothing more. The Lords of Westeros did not care for a princess who would never be their queen, so much like she did in her own family, Anastasia faded into the background.

Before long, it came time for Anastasia to be betrothed. Her father had tried earnestly to tempt Eddard to break the pact with the Freys and have Robb wed Anastasia. Although Anastasia could not hear her father's words, she had become a master at reading lips, even from afar. The idea of being married to Jon's half-brother made her stomach churn. Although she had not seen the bastard in so many years, the idea of him still made butterflies flutter in her stomach.

Another betrothal had soon followed. Ser Kevan Lannister had offered his only son Lancel as a possible suitor to the young princess, but his older brother Tywin had quickly diminished the proposal. The only person who was as concerned for Anastasia's well-being as much as her uncle Renly, was her grandfather, Lord Tywin Lannister.

Strangely enough, although the girl was incapable of hearing and properly communicating with people, she had no trouble with connecting to people; children were her favorite. Since her parents paid her no mind and whenever Renly was busy, she would sneak away from the castle with stolen food from the kitchens stuffed in a satchel. She would often go to the Great Sept of Baelor and play with the children in the summer heat. No one could mistake her for a commoner given her particularly beautiful clothes, but if you stripped away the lavish gown, she acted as if she were not a royal. From impoverished children to narcissistic lords, no one had anything ill to say of the eldest princess.

Tywin was a particularly cold man, but when it came to his eldest grandchild, he showed tolerance. Although she did not possess the golden Lannister mane, he considered more of a lion than his other grandchildren. He saw more of Joanna in her than in his own daughter; Cersei mirrored Joanna. It was in her soft nature and kind words that reminded him of Joanna, whereas Cersei was cold and calculating, much like her father, he admitted.

Anastasia rarely saw her grandfather, but when the two did see one another, it was always pleasant company for the two. Anastasia could not hear and Tywin could not communicate so the two often just enjoyed the unadulterated company with no need to speak or listen. Although Joanna's death had pained him more than he would openly admit, Anastasia brought him solace in knowing that some of her traits passed to her even though they may have skipped his own children.

Robert's hand, Jon Arryn, had suddenly caught ill. Anastasia's initial fear was whatever sickness had taken her hearing was back once more in the castle, but the plague had passed just as quickly as it came. No one else in the castle became afflicted, nor did anyone else become infected. It was shortly after the council meeting did Renly enter Anastasia's chambers. Renly was the only one in her family to take the time to learn how to properly communicate with her though hand gestures. He informed her of Jon Arryn's death and how her father was making quick arrangements to travel to Winterfell with his wife and children in tow. Renly advised that she not travel alongside her father. No one knew how to get her to understand. Fear tugged at his heart at the idea of his niece wandering in the north with her reckless father. Anastasia was none the wiser to his concern. She only thought of one thing. _Jon._

Days had seemed to pass as slow as molasses for Anastasia. Since her father announced the departure for Winterfell, Anastasia had been packed and ready to go. She embarrassingly had packed the letters from all those years ago. She had realized once she placed the drawings in her luggage of how she never spoke to Jon after she became crippled. Without so much as a reason as to why her letters ceased. Robb would often note of how she was a girl. "Girls cannot possibly be _that_ entertaining, Jon." He would say, but Jon would have none of it. To him, she was lively and adventurous and strong enough to fight Catelyn. The memory of why Jon liked her so long ago stung. She thought, _Could he still wish to be friends with a girl so fragile?_


End file.
